Essay on Regional Imbalance in Development for Class 10, 12, Mains Exam (UPSC, PSC, SSC)
Regional imbalance refers to the disparities in terms of social and economic status prevailing between two regions. In such a condition a country cannot progress. The regional disparity is reflected by indicators such as per capita income, the majority of people living below poverty line, the percentage of population living in urban areas and rural areas and the infrastructural development of different states. The economy due to regional imbalance fails to provide benefits to all regions in the country. The unequal economic development is due to colonization and other socio-economic processes. It is a threat to the economic growth and it fails to reduce poverty. An important form of inequality in India is regional imbalance. Punjab, Haryana, Goa, Maharashtra have high economic growth as compared to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam.
Causes of regional imbalance:
The regional disparity in India started from the colonial period. The causes of regional imbalance are stated below:
- The per capita income, when low cause regional imbalance. In states where a bulk of the population works in the agrarian sector, the per capita income is low as compared to the population who work in the manufacturing and tertiary sectors.
- The British government in India brought those changes in India that enabled them to gain control over India. Few cities like Calcutta, Mumbai and Chennai developed as port cities. Other than this, the other states those which are underdeveloped suffered from regional imbalance.
- The states having lack of mineral and other natural resources as for instance the terrain of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and other north eastern states suffer from regional imbalance.
- The states that are economically backward cannot prosper with the economically advanced states.
- Political instability also leads to regional imbalance. A state that shows good development has a stable government. On the contrary some states due to economic or social causes face political instability in the form of unstable law and government.
Steps to tackle regional disparity:
- Role of finance commission: The finance commission of India reviews the share of funds given to the states. It also determines the allocation of funds given to the states. The state that has low per capita income are given preference as compared to the others.
- Attention on the geographically areas: The geographically backward areas should be developed by establishing industries and other related sources from where revenue can be earned. As for example, the hilly regions of northern India are rich in fruit production so horticulture industry and tourism industry due to its scenic beauty can be established there in order to generate income.
- Special area development programme: Special developmental programmes are implemented in order to improve the arid, hilly, flood and draught prone areas. Other schemes related to rural development programme benefit the marginalized sections of the rural areas including the farmers.Tribal Sub Plans are now being implemented for the development of the tribal people in the rural areas.
- Establishing financial institution in backward areas: In order to speed up the growth of industrialization the Indian government has introduced financial institutions in the backward areas.
Conclusion:
A country can never progress if there are regional disparities or imbalance. Even if any progress is made, it faces a void by the backwardness of other aspects. In terms of Inclusive Development Index India has a poor status and this can be improved by removing regional imbalance.